1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in fishing reels and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a battery powered fishing reel for facilitating winding of a line onto the reel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The fishing sport is increasing in popularity today, and the use of hand held fishing rods having a fishing reel secured thereto is widespread. The usual fishing reel includes a spool upon which the fishing line is wound, the spool normally being free wheeling or freely rotatable in one direction and provided with means for manually rotating the spool in an opposite direction. As the line is cast from the reel, the rod is normally manipulated for swinging the outer end or tip thereof through an arc whereby the line pays out from the spool in order to position the baited fish hook at the desired location in the water for attracting a fish. During a fishing operation, the line is normally repeatedly cast and subsequently reeled in or rewound onto the spool in order to perform the next casting operation. The repeated casting and rewinding of the line may continue throughout a relatively long time period, and the repeated manual rewinding of the line onto the spool is not only tiresome, but is also time consuming. This is an obvious disadvantage, in addition to which the winding of the line is difficult for some persons, such as handicapped persons, and reduces the enjoyment of the sport.
Powered fishing reels are well known in the large fishing reels, such as those used for commercial fishing or deep sea fishing, such as those shown in the Stratton U.S. Pat. No. 2,743,067, issued Apr. 24, 1956 and entitled "Reel for Deep-Sea Fishing;" and the Clapp U.S. Pat. No. 3,049,829, issued Aug. 21, 1962, and entitled "Power Driven Fishing Tackle." These reels are utilized under entirely different circumstances than the usual relatively small hand held type reel, however, and the power driven spools of these large reels are normally required to facilitate the manipulation of large, heavy fish, or the like. Relatively little has been accomplished in connection with the application of power activation for the spools of the hand held type reels. One solution to the problem is shown in the Wyroski U.S. Pat. No. 3,932,954, issued Jan. 20, 1976 and entitled "Motorized Spinning Reel." This patent is directed to a battery having the drive shaft thereof operably connected with a gear train which drives the spool to facilitate the winding of the wind onto the spool. The motor is flexibly mounted in order that the drive gear secured to the drive shaft of the motor may be angularly orientated with respect to the driven gear in order to preclude damage to the gear teeth in the event of any binding action, or the like, during the winding operation. Such an arrangement is not a practical solution to the problem, however, since the distance through which the drive gear must be moved for assuring a disengagement thereof with the driven gear creates an impractical mounting arrangement for the motor. Another solution to the problem is found in my co-pending application Ser. No. 284,693, filed July 20, 1981, and entitled "Fishing Reel." In the embodiment shown in my prior patent, the handle of the fishing reel is hollow and battery means for activation of the motor for powering the reel are mounted within the hollow handle. In addition, an on-off switch means is mounted on the handle for selective application of power to the motor. This has a disadvantage in that the fishing rod itself must be altered in order to utilize the fishing reel disclosed in the prior application.